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These are the editorial guidelines for the Days After Chaos ATL. That being said, PLEASE PLEASE read and familiarize yourself with these before making any edits/adding new pages to the timeline.

Canon[]

Canon articles are articles accepted as a part of the Days After Chaos timeline by members of the community. Canon articles must be plausible, logical, and an accepted part of the lore. Before an article is canon, it should be marked with the "Days After Chaos - Proposal" template. To graduate an article to canon, you must bring it to the attention of the contributors at Talk:Days After Chaos, which is the discussion page for the ATL.

For further understanding of the idea of canon, proposals, and probability read QSS and QAA. It is also recommended that you familiarize yourself with the timeline so you have an idea for the current canon.

Proposals[]

When you create something new, it should be tagged as a proposal. This is done by adding Template:DACprop to the top of the page. This adds the article to Category:Proposals (Days After Chaos). It is also helpful to add a note about your new page to the bottom of the main talk page.

Tagging the page as a proposal indicates that the entire group has not yet had a chance to discuss, debate, and possibly recommend changes to it. If you feel your article is ready to be recognized as canon, then say so on the talk page. Timeline moderators will review your article, and approve or disapprove it. After your article is approved, it will officially be considered "graduated" and a part of the DAC canon.

Important note: the fact that a page or idea has been accepted/graduated does NOT mean that it is "finished". All of DAC's pages are undergoing constant updates and expansion. The graduation process simply means that what has been written, the essential or fundamental elements of the idea, are part of the timeline's canon.

Mods cannot use their moderator status in any way when debating their own articles. (No self graduation and stuff like that)

Plausibility[]

Please try to keep things to a plausible level. Despite changes in the timeline from ours, the real world works in the same way in this ATL as it does in OTL. Generally, things that couldn't possibly happen in our timeline shouldn't happen in this one. Please do not insert aliens, magic or supernatural elements - as this ATL is already quite fictional on its own. Also remember that even if certain things are possible for people or nations, they should remain at least somewhat practical and achievable for them to have it happen. Unlikely but possible things can be allowed, as long as there is a good explanation as for why it happened over a more likely thing or outcome and unlikely events are not overused.

Hometowns[]

Furthermore, the purpose of Days After Chaos is not to transform your hometown into the bright center of civilization, despite the "cool" factor. Chances are that the place you live is no better or worse off than its immediate neighbors. Keep that in mind if you ever try to develop a nation that encompasses your hometown.

Categories and Templates[]

The categorization system will be strictly enforced by the Lords of the Great Chaos, the moderator staff of the timeline.

No page, unless a key page, will be placed in the Category:Days After Chaos. This category is only for vital pages, such as the timeline, pages on religion, general culture, etc. A good indicator of whether something belongs in this category is if the page is mentioned on the Template:DAC, or if you are ok'd by a Lord of the Great Chaos.

If your page is a proposal, or in the works, please use the Category:Proposals (Days After Chaos). Also, be sure to add the Template:DACprop to the top of your page. Do NOT add any other categories, save for a location category. For instance, if your page is Crown of Boston, please add Category:Boston.

Additionally, do not use Category:Under Construction, or add Template:WIP to your WIP page - the proposal template/category will indicate that it is a WIP page.

Timeframe[]

This ATL is intended to be a "current" or "parallel" ATL where everything happens within the same time frame like OTL. So please avoid future history apart from short-term (like scheduled sport events, elections, etc). We however would like you to refrain from adding information about the time between approximately 1850 and 1900 except for folklore and legends.

Adopting Articles[]

Sometimes, real life causes editors to go missing, leaving their articles with no one to update them. Due to the nature of the timeline, it's unrealistic to allow articles to remain unchanged while the history of this world marches on. So, if an editor has been missing, or has no intention of adding to their articles, another editor can adopt his articles. We ask that the adopting editor make an attempt to contact the missing editor by leaving a message on his or her talk page. If the missing editor does not respond in one week, the adopting editor can safely become the new caretaker of the article in question.

Knights of the Great Chaos[]

The Knights of the Great Chaos is an organization of contributors to the timeline that provides us with a sense of identity and ownership. Moderators are "Lords of the Great Chaos" and preside over the Knight Order. Once you write your first article, you can "claim" a region of the world by writing a title (yes, your very own custom medieval title) and your username next to the region that you want to specialize in. This is to organize contributing, and to prevent the entire world from being a free-for all.

To become a Knight, you must've written a canon article in the region you want to claim or be a moderator. Try not to claim regions that are too large.

If you want to contribute to the timeline, but see someone claims the region that you are looking to contribute to, fear not! Try to contact the user in question, but if that is impossible, you can create your nation if there is PLAUSIBLE LAND THAT ONE CAN BE MADE IN NEARBY.

Some Tips[]

  • Before editing be sure to read this for inspiration about the setting.
    • That being said, try NOT to copy it for your nations. The Atlas of Medieval America is to be used as an example of a plausible (albeit unfinished) look at a medieval America scenario.
  • This timeline will concentrate on the Americas for now, specifically North America. Make only passing vague references to Latin America at the moment and no references save legends, myths, and tales of the Old World.
  • The goal of this timeline is to create an accurate scenario of a world regressing into a neo-Middle Ages. Make sure to research the region you're working on, specifically the soil type, climate, vegetation, population, culture, etc. If your goal is to create the "Grand Empire of (insert hometown)" you've come to the wrong place.
  • Some statistics: The general technology level of the Americas is around 1100 AD levels, with North America being a Europe parallel, and Latin America being a Muslim World parallel. The world population is around 260 million, with 130 million in the New World, 70 million in Latin America and 60 million in North America.
  • On the Regions page, we will outline the general regions of the world and the general plans for them. Try to fit them within the plans, though like everything in the world, there will be exceptions.
  • Many regions that are inhabited OTL today will be too hot, dry, cold, high, et cetera to support a major population ATL. Remember, 1100 tech, folks!
  • Remember, factors of the region that your nation is formed in will be MAJOR influences on your nation's government, culture, population centers, et cetera.
    • Example: Ancient Egypt was built along the Nile River and never went too far away from its banks due to the hot and dry climate of the surrounding region, and was peopled by the descendents of ancient hunter/gatherers on the once-fertile Sahara.
  • We are going to leave the event that caused the human population to drop (the Great Chaos) ambiguous (at least for now), but here are a few things that you need to know about it:
    • Cities were hit harder than rural areas, therefore many areas that were once major urban centers are now much smaller.
    • Those cities, however, remained standing, along with most other buildings. Many cities are re-inhabited while those that are not are overrun by nature.
    • The Great Chaos by the Church of the Union is to remain a "dark age", where very few records survive of it. New nations will NOT establish themselves directly after the Chaos, as it will take several decades for some sort of "order" to emerge, give or take a few years, depending on the region.
    • The period between circa 1850 and 1900 is known as the Chaos, and it happened gradually, with modern civilization slipping away until by circa 1900, the world was unrecognizable.
  • Feudal titles are different in this ATL in North America because American feudalism developed outside of European feudalism. As such the general feudal titles follow:
    • Emperor = Grand President
    • King = President
    • Petty King = Lesser President
    • Prince = Vice President
    • Duke = Governor
    • Count = Commissioner
    • Baron = Mayor
      • Please note that these are only the general titles that will be used, there will be regional exceptions.
  • Try to only work on one or two nations at once to leave room for potential contributors.
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